The defining moment when you realize you have squandered 17 years of your life

It happened to me today, in fact. Yup, 17 years down a rat-hole.

You see, I moved to British Columbia 17 years ago. My first home: Whistler, BC. It was a lifestyle choice... go to the biggest and best and ski 'till the snow is all gone.

Today was an epic day. But it started out on thin ice. Wader called late last night with a very tempting offer: "Tomorrow morning. I'll be at your place at 7:00 am. We're going back-country skiing at Cypress."

I immediately fell into the morass of analysis paralysis.

The cons: It's going to be icy. My ribs are broken. Wader will kick my ass. I don't know how to use the gear. I'll have to get up early. I'm out of shape. I'll get further behind at work. I just about froze in the fog up on Grouse last night, so I'll freeze for sure tomorrow morning. I'll fall down a tree well and die a cold, slow and miserable death.

The pros: I love Wader and I've not seen him in a while. I really, really want to try back-country skiing now that I've got the basic gear. It might have snowed on Cypress last night. I have to chat with Wader about the Western States 100-mile run soon anyway, so going back-country skiing with him is wayyyy cheaper than going drinking with him. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. I can work in the afternoon and all night. What if I get hit by a bus tomorrow morning, anyway?

It came to me in a flash of decisiveness: "Who needs sleep... I'm in!"

I actually couldn't sleep I was so jazzed. 5:45am. I was awake before the alarm. I remembered to pack the skins and the camera as I scanned the Globe and drank my coffee and thought about the first time I tried back-country skiing with Mudrunner a couple of years ago. What a blast. However, on loose-heel telemark skis, I was a mess on the downhill and it left me thinking, "there is a big learning curve here."

Back-county skiing is something I've always dreamed of doing, but never made the decison to learn. That is, until this year when I bought the AT (alpine touring) bindings that allowed me to lock and release my heels on downhill skis. Today, I'd put it to the test.

We were at a deserted parking lot on Cypress Mountain above Vancouver, British Columbia before 8:00 am. Show time. It's good cool... definitely below 0C. Gray skies, but no fog. Wader and I climbed a big snow wall and snapped in. Pretty light powder! Widely-spaced, old growth trees. Wader cutting trail, me trying to figure out how to weight my skis behind. Lots of slipping in the corners. Pole plants up to the wrists. (Nope, those tiny downhill pole baskets won't cut it here!) It was more than an hour of slogging, swearing and pealing layers before we got to the secret chutes.

Then it was time to lock and load!

I peeled off the skins. Strange idea, skins. 30 year of downhill skiing down the rat hole because, if you have skins on, you don't slide backwards on your skis. Goretex shell on. New Soviet-era tank commander helmet on. Photo of Wader, then camera securely stored. Heels locked. Gloves on. We're off!

More than an hour up. Less than 5 minutes down. 30 years of skiing habits and expectations down the rat hole. I am so hooked!

Wader is a patient guy. I cost him a run because I have to go back to the truck and swap poles. I'm stripped-down to a thin t-shirt and I want more of that pow. This time, I know to not knock my skins off as I trudge uphill in the deep snow. I know how steep I can climb straight up the fall-line without sliding backwards. It takes us half the time up and we went higher.

Woo hoo! It's 8:30 am and I'm skiing great pow in the old growth forest with my buddy, Wade.

It is a strange feeling. For all of the trouble, we got 2 sort descents in. These 2 little runs, however, mean as much as a day of heli skiing because I feel as though I truly earned them!

The drive back to the daily grind was upbeat, but sadly melancholy. Wader seemed to think today was the last day of his ski year. I felt that I'd wasted 17 years for not having discovered back-country skiing when I first moved to BC.

Anybody for a little backcountry ski this weekend?